Title

Author

Campus Location

Date of Award

Department

Degree Name

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Wayne Paris

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Alan Lipps

Abstract

As literature has shown, chronic pain patients present with a unique challenge to the

medical field. The existing question is if the patient’s pain is unmanageable because of the severity of the pain or if the patient lacks coping mechanisms. If there is a lack of coping mechanisms, then that raises a plethora of new questions for the medical teams caring for them. After IRB approval, the current study was conducted on a sample of three patients that were referred to the Hendrick Medical Center Pathways team for pain management. It sought to determine if there was any association between their suspected pain management issues and prior emotional trauma. Each individual was administered the Trauma History Questionnaire, which revealed that each patient had a very complex trauma history. The findings suggest the importance of an interdisciplinary approach that includes trauma informed protocols when caring for patients with chronic or unmanaged pain.

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